Things that amaze me

• That we continue to spend so much on defense, and that nobody really even discusses it anymore. Why this war, how many troops there, but not Do We Need This Much? A crime.
  
  
• Similarly, how much medicine costs in the US -- not country-wide insurance, but per visit, procedure, test, pill, etc. Another thing we tend not to talk about (because the market cures all ills!)...
  
  
• The prevalence of poverty, especially the statistic that half of all children will be on food stamps at some point -- and 90% of black children!!! I... we... the mind reels.
  
  
• Wacky news from science: a new ocean being born in real time! (As Medley says, Are they allowed to do that?!)